Our Community Partners

Placer Nature Center receives support from many wonderful organizations throughout Placer County who share a passion for environmental education, the ecosystem, nature, and childhood development.
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Placer Nature Center proudly acknowleges the many organizations and companies who generously sponsor our environmental programs and classes that connect people and nature. Through their generous giving, Placer Nature Center provides environmental education programs to children and families all across the Sierra Foothills. Without their generous giving, many of our most succesful child development programs could not exist. So, to these organizations, we give a big "Thank You!"

Local Event & Business Partners:
Darin Pointer
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Program Specific Partners:
First 5 Placer
| Placer County Water Agency | 4th Friday Lecture Series | Nature Bowl
Placer Tree Partners | 2009 Summer Camp Partners | Friends & Family Day
Administration Support:
Darrel Dwyer And Company | Google Grants | Salesforce


Local Event & Business Partners

Photographer Darin Pointer

Placer Nature Center is fortunate to partner with Wildlife and Outdoor Photographer Darin Darin Pointer photo of HawkPointer.

Based locally in Foresthill, Darin has been taking pictures for 30 years, having developed his first picture in 1980 - well before digital photography.

"My voice is my photography, my subject matter and passion is wildlife and landscape. I find great peace in traveling to the places that I do to find the great wildlife and landscapes that I observe and capture. I strive to bring the emotion and beauty out in every photo I take, and I go to extreme measures to do that," Darin writes on his website. "With some birds I will spend days, sometimes weeks, trying to capture that perfect picture that best represents that particular bird, and I love every minute of it. Raptors are my favorites but all birds and wild animals amaze me."

 

Program Specific Grants & Partners

First 5 Placer

First 5 PlacerThanks to a partnershipwith First 5 Placer County's Children and Families Commission, Placer Nature Center nurtures children's natural curiosity for the outdoors. Through their support, Placer Nature Center presents a unique and dynamic series of hands-on learning programs for children 0-5 years old. Programs include:

Our Day Outside enables families with preschool children (up to 5 years old) to explore and play together. Through nature investigations with hand lenses, singing, crafts, make-believe, puppetry and much more, children interact together and with their families, learning about the world around them while having lots of fun!

Discovering Nature with Young Children is 12 Hours of free Professional Growth fup to 5 years of age.

The series of six two-hour sessions present and demonstrate “nature play.” Teachers and caregivers have the choice of attending all six sessions or just their favorite topics. In class, educators learn to use tools and inspirational ideas, to facilitate nature study while weaving themes into other indoor and outdoor activities.

For more information and location of class, please visit the Just for Teachers page.

"Foothill Discovery"
Placer Nature Center takes the learning program to Placer County Early Headstart and Headstart preschools. Foothill Discovery helps children learn to see nature in their own schoolyard. Children develop close observation skills, how to imagine, create and explore new ideas, and learn critical-thinking skills.


Program Specific Partners:
First 5 Placer
| Placer County Water Agency | 4th Friday Lecture Series | Nature Bowl
Placer Tree Partners | 2009 Summer Camp Partners | Friends & Family Day
Administration Support:
Darrel Dwyer And Company | Google Grants | Salesforce


Placer County water Agency

Placer County Water Agency Placer County Water Agency (PCWA) has partnered with the Placer Nature Center to deliver water education field trips to Placer County schools.

Image: Children learning about water usage.
Above: From abstract to concrete - students learn complex concepts of shared water usage through intuitive, hands-on activities.

This special funding allows schools to incorporate important watershed learning into the curriculum while meeting the California Content Standards. Students learn about their role in the watershed as well as the use and conservation of natural resources. These water education programs are presented in grade-specific, hands-on activities that make complex water issues easy to understand from kindergarten to eighth grade. Learn more about the Watershed Learning Programs.

PCWA’s general governance and integrated resource management of its Agency Wide activities encompass Placer County’s entire 1,500-square-mile boundary to provide sustainable, reliable and affordable drinking and irrigation water for Placer County’s retail and resale customers within the six cities and the unincorporated areas of Placer County. The Agency’s Power System, which includes five hydroelectric power plants and two large reservoirs, provides hydroelectric energy sufficient to provide electricity to a quarter of a million retail electricity customers.

PCWA’s service area ranges from the rim of the Sacramento Valley on the west to the Sierra Nevada and Lake Tahoe on the east. The Agency is actively involved in issues affecting the Truckee, American, and Yuba/Bear River systems, along with the State’s Central Valley Water Project and the Bay/Delta system.

PCWA is headquartered in Auburn, the county seat of Placer County, in California's beautiful Gold Country.

For the latest information on PCWA activities and or for information on the Agency’s successful Water Use Efficiency Program, click on this link: www.pcwa.net


Program Specific Partners:
First 5 Placer
| Placer County Water Agency | 4th Friday Lecture Series | Nature Bowl
Placer Tree Partners | 2009 Summer Camp Partners | Friends & Family Day
Administration Support:
Darrel Dwyer And Company | Google Grants | Salesforce


2009-2010 4th Friday Lecture Series

From California Salmon to the Mesopotamian Marshes, the 4th Friday Lecture Series brings timely science and natural history topics to the Sierra Foothills. Our sponsors make it possible!

Bank of the West
Gold Country Media
Placer Sentinel

Marion Friedman

49er Printing
& Copy Center

(530) 885-2481
11806 Kemper Rd
Auburn, CA 95603

 

Unity of Auburn
(530) 888-6489
1212 High Street
Auburn, CA 95603

 

Program Specific Partners:
First 5 Placer
| Placer County Water Agency | 4th Friday Lecture Series | Nature Bowl
Placer Tree Partners | 2009 Summer Camp Partners | Friends & Family Day
Administration Support:
Darrel Dwyer And Company | Google Grants | Salesforce


Nature Bowl

Placer County Resource Conservation DistrictThe Placer County Resource Conservation District is an independent, self governing body organized in 1946 and dedicated to the conservation of natural resources. The RCD develops and enables programs in partnership with others that assist private landowners and public agencies to accomplish the goal of conserving natural resources.www.PlacerCountyRCD.org


Program Specific Partners:
First 5 Placer
| Placer County Water Agency | 4th Friday Lecture Series | Nature Bowl
Placer Tree Partners | 2009 Summer Camp Partners | Friends & Family Day
Administration Support:
Darrel Dwyer And Company | Google Grants | Salesforce


Placer Tree Partners

The Placer Tree Partners (PTP) were recently formed as a subcommittee of the Auburn Ravine/Coon Creek Watershed group. PTP's mission is “to create, nurture, and sustain a community where a variety of healthy trees are abundant in all areas, providing beauty, serenity, cooling shade, and good health to residents and visitors for generations to come.” Together, the partners are providing many activities and educational resources to increase public awareness and appreciation of trees in an urban forest setting. www.PlacerTree.org


Program Specific Partners:
First 5 Placer
| Placer County Water Agency | 4th Friday Lecture Series | Nature Bowl
Placer Tree Partners | 2009 Summer Camp Partners | Friends & Family Day
Administration Support:
Darrel Dwyer And Company | Google Grants | Salesforce


2010 Summer Camp Partners

Auburn Garden Club
www.auburngardenclub.org
Auburn Host Lions Club
www.auburnhostlions.org
R.E.I.
Sierra Foothill Audubon Society
www.sierrafoothillsaudubon.com

 


Program Specific Partners:
First 5 Placer
| Placer County Water Agency | 4th Friday Lecture Series | Nature Bowl
Placer Tree Partners | 2009 Summer Camp Partners | Friends & Family Day
Administration Support:
Darrel Dwyer And Company | Google Grants | Salesforce


Friends & Family Day

Seal of Placer CountyPlacer County Department of Public Works,
Stormwater Quality Division

Partnered to bring community members the "My Home, My Habits, My Watershed" day on November 14, 2009. Did you know that as a home or business owner you play an important role in keeping our waterways clean and pollution free? It’s true! What you do around your home or business can end up in our waterways.
Find out how you can help keep our water clean by visiting the Stormwater Quality web site!


What many people may not realize is that roadside ditches, neighborhood curb/gutter systems and parking lot drainage inlets generally carry runoff directly streams, creeks and lakes with absolutely NO TREATMENT. So whatever pollutants go into the storm drain system, go into our water.

If you see a problem, something getting into our water ways that should not, you can stop it by calling Placer County's Stormwater Quality Division. They help educate and inform property owners and help remedy any environmentally hazardous problems. They can be reached by calling 530-745-7500 and ask for Stormwater Quality Information, or contact them online through their "Contact Us" page.

To report illegal dumping or a spill outside of normal business hours, call the County Hotline Number, in the Auburn area (530) 889-4000 or outside the Auburn area at (800)488-4308.


Program Specific Partners:
First 5 Placer
| Placer County Water Agency | 4th Friday Lecture Series | Nature Bowl
Placer Tree Partners | 2009 Summer Camp Partners | Friends & Family Day
Administration Support:
Darrel Dwyer And Company
| Google Grants | Salesforce


 

Administration Grants & Supporters

The following community partners help with the day-to-day administration of Placer Nature Center.

Dwyer and Company, Certified Public Accountant

Darrell J. Dwyer, MBA CPA, principal of Dwyer and Company in Auburn and Rocklin, completes Placer Nature Center's tax returns for the IRS, Secretary of State and Franchise Tax Board each year and addresses other tax related issues for the Nature Center as a volunteer. Darrell helps ensure the satisfactory compliance with the legal and accounting requirements of our 501.c.3 organization. To read more about Darrel’s firm please visit www.dwyer-cpa.com or call him at (916) 624-7995
Be sure to check out his Tax Tip of the Week!


Program Specific Partners:
First 5 Placer
| Placer County Water Agency | 4th Friday Lecture Series | Nature Bowl
Placer Tree Partners | 2009 Summer Camp Partners | Friends & Family Day
Administration Support:
Darrel Dwyer And Company | Google Grants | Salesforce


Google Grants

Placer Nature Center is a recipient of a Google Grant award.

The Google Grants program supports organizations sharing Google's philosophy of community service to help the world in areas such as science and technology, education, global public health, the environment, youth advocacy, and the arts.

Designed for 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations, Google Grants is a unique in-kind advertising program harnessing the power of Google AdWords advertising product. Google Grants has awarded AdWords advertising to hundreds of non-profit groups whose missions range from animal welfare to literacy, from supporting homeless children to promoting HIV education.


Program Specific Partners:
First 5 Placer
| Placer County Water Agency | 4th Friday Lecture Series | Nature Bowl
Placer Tree Partners | 2009 Summer Camp Partners | Friends & Family Day
Administration Support:
Darrel Dwyer And Company | Google Grants | Salesforce


Salesforce

Putting Salesforce in the hands of qualified nonprofits and educators allows social change organizations to focus more time on their missions and less time dealing with technology infrastructure.

By donating 10 licenses of Salesforce Nonprofit Edition and a further 80% discount on additional licenses, salesforce.com is revolutionizing the ability of social change organizations to achieve their mission.

More than 5,500 worldwide social change organizations use Salesforce for a wide range of uses including:


Program Specific Partners:
First 5 Placer
| Placer County Water Agency | 4th Friday Lecture Series | Nature Bowl
Placer Tree Partners | 2009 Summer Camp Partners | Friends & Family Day
Administration Support:
Darrel Dwyer And Company | Google Grants | Salesforce